Note 122 — Chapter III · TOTEMISM AND FETISHISM.

The Greeks had a special name, Koskinomantis, for the man who divined in this way with the sieve, and the practice is mentioned by Theocritus.122 The sieve is very commonly used in India as a rude form of the planchette. Through the wicker-work of the raised side or back a strong T-shaped twig is fixed, one end of which rests on the finger. A question is asked, and according as the sieve turns to the right or left, the answer is “Yes” or “No.” This is exactly what is known as “Cauff-riddling” in Yorkshire and Scotland.123 In the eastern districts of the North-Western Provinces, when the Ojha or “cunning man” is called in to cure disease, or possession by evil spirits, he puts some sesamum into a sieve, shakes it about, and then proceeds to identify the ghost concerned by counting the number of grains which remain stuck between the reeds. At a Santâl cremation, a man takes his seat near the ashes, and tosses rice on them with a winnowing fan till a frenzy appears to seize him, and he becomes inspired and says wonderful things.124